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Our Labor History Timeline

Throughout our history, the labor movement has accomplished a lot. If you get weekends off or overtime pay, thank the union members who fought for those rights. None of our movement’s achievements would have happened without the effort, organization and advocacy of our brothers and sisters. But injustice still runs amok. We must look to the past not only for inspiration, but for the tools we need to continue the fight. The roots of the problems we face today can be found in our past. So can the beginnings of the solutions we need for our future.

The labor history timeline highlights the key events and the people who helped bring about radical changes in the workplace and society.

Power concedes nothing without demands.

Frederick Douglass

The Labor Movement and Gender Equality

Some of the earliest organizing efforts in the United States were young women working at mills. From that point forward, the labor movement has played a central role in the advancement of women’s rights.

1834 First turnout of “mill girls” in Lowell, Massachusetts, to protect wage cuts

1945 Frances Perkins ends her long tenure as secretary of labor, leaving behind a legacy that reduced workplace accidents, created laws against child labor and expanded workers' rights

1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act passed

The Labor Movement and Civil Rights

The civil rights movement and the labor movement have been intertwined from the beginning. Civil rights leaders have always been labor leaders, too. America's union movement champions those who lack a voice in our society. Union members played a critical role in the civil rights struggles of the past and that involvement continues today.

When Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed for civil disobedience, unions and union members frequently came to his aid with the legal and financial help he needed. Union members marched in Washington in 1963 and in countless cities around the country. King was killed while in Memphis to aid striking sanitation workers.

Today, the union movement is in the forefront of efforts to ensure that the gains of the past are maintained and to fight for those still denied opportunity and equality. From its struggles to ensure U.S. workplaces are free of discrimination to its battles to ensure that the hard-earned right to vote is secure for all, the union movement continues to fight for the poor and the oppressed.

1619 Slaves from Africa first imported to colonies

1664 First slavery codes begin trend of making African servants slaves for life

1676 Bacon’s Rebellion of servants and slaves in Virginia

1800 Gabriel Prosser’s slave insurrection in Virginia

1865 Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolishes slavery

1869 Colored National Labor Union formed

1870 Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution adopted; states the right to vote may not be abrogated by color

1997 Pride At Work, a national coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers and their supporters, becomes an AFL-CIO constituency group; AFL-CIO membership renewed growth

The Labor Movement and Workplace Rights

Another key force behind working people organizing is so that they can earn enough to support their families. Good wages are part of that calculation, but so are health care, paid sick leave and other rights that make sure that working people can do their jobs and take care of their families.

1619 The first labor strike on American soil was organized and staged by Polish workers and artisans in Jamestown

1677 First recorded prosecution against strikers in New York City

1791 First strike in building trades by Philadelphia carpenters for a 10-hour day Bill of Rights adopted

1997 The AFL-CIO defeats legislation giving the president the ability to “Fast Track” trade legislation without assured protection of workers’ rights and the environment

2001 Labor unions join with community allies to enact “living wage” ordinances in 76 communities across the nation

2003 The AFL-CIO establishes Working America to reach out to nonunion members and mobilize workers through door-to-door canvassing in neighborhoods

The Labor Movement and Retirement

Working people don't work forever. A healthy and secure retirement should be an attainable goal for any worker who wants it. The labor movement has fought and still fights to make this dream true for as many as possible.

Major Labor History Sites

A. Philip Randolph
An online exhibit, based on the 1992–2001 traveling exhibit, featuring photos from his early life and from his work in the civil rights and trade union movements.

American Labor Museum: Botto House National Landmark
The American Labor Museum is housed in the Botto House National Landmark, a 1908 Victorian home and meeting place for more than 20,000 silk mill workers during the 1913 Paterson Silk Strike. The museum includes a labor and immigrant library and changing exhibits.

The George Meany Memorial Archives
Online exhibits, reference assistance and more at the archives established by the AFL-CIO to preserve its historical records and make them available for research.

Mining Disasters
Information about mining tragedies and the legislation they resulted in, from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The Samuel Gompers Papers
A documentary history of the American working class, sponsored by the University of Maryland-College Park, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the George Meany Memorial Archives.